Happy Christmas from Perth...

Went into the city yesterday to snap some farewell uplifting Christmas images. My Sydney famille have arrived and am looking forward to spending quality time over the festive period. Above the angel overseeing the celebrations in Forrest Place, the city centre.. with the Coat of arms of Australia behind on the heritage General Post Office building..

Above the weathercock atop the 35mt high spire of Wesley Church as seen through the Christmas decorations across Hay Street, and below a minimally decorated tree with the heritage Commonwealth Bank of Australia building a worthy backdrop.. 

I'm sure you will recognise one of my favourite buildings in the city below, well part of it anyway :) the Art Deco design Gledden Building..

... and below just because I like the way it looks up there among the branches of the plane trees! Even though the skies were blue for the short time we were in the city the weather was mostly stormy yesterday, with more of the same today.. I like it :) Here's wishing you a very happy and peaceful Christmas, take care and stay safe until I'm back on the 1st of the new year.. 

Moment of Contemplation..

This is another spot in the city that I find hard to resist taking more photos. On the way from St Georges Terrace through Trinity Arcade, seen here, back into the city. Although I'm sure this is a daily sight, it is the first time that I've seen the door open inviting passers-by in for a quiet moment of contemplation. Even though I prefer to do my contemplation over a hot cup of coffee in the cafe next door, each to their own oui.. I can verify that Trinity Church it is a wonderfully peaceful place to be. Happy Sunday, take care and stay safe..

Arthouse at the Gallery..

When visiting Sydney in October we went to the fabulous Art Gallery NSW. In the gallery shop when asked if I was a member I realized that if I had been a member of  Art Gallery WA I would have had reciprocal membership. As a regular visitor to our own art gallery it made no sense not to be a member.. can you see where I'm going with this :) So now I am and as an added bonus the new gallery Arthouse Cafe, opened in June this year, is excellent.. eggs poached to perfection! Above the huge mirror-ball hanging from the cafe ceiling shining down on fellow diners creating fragmented art! Happy weekend, take care and stay safe...
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Boogie Woogie Christmas..

Well it's official.. Christmas really is just around the corner! Seen at my local shopping centre, three lovely young ladies singing Christmas carols boogie woogie style. Fun to listen to, hard to get a clear pic with those animated hand movements.. that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :) We have fifteen young children in the family and as yet not much shopping done.. I'd better get my skates on! How about you, are you organized for the big day? Happy Friday, take care and stay safe..

Arts décoratif.. Trinity Arcade.

It's definitely not the only way to pass through from Hay St to St Georges Terrace.. but as far as I'm concerned walking through Trinity Arcade is the best way.. three guesses why :) The arcade, history here, built in 1923 is so Art Deco it makes my head spin. Here last week looking ever so elegant in it's Christmas adornments. Although a mixture of styles the bold geometric lines fit my sense of minimalism to perfection! I purposely waited until the arcade was free of people distracting from the details:)  Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe.. P.s. I apologize if I've shown the arcade before but I never can resist taking more!

South and Northward Bound..

Years ago I remember many times driving up the motorway from England to Scotland stopping at service centres along the way for a coffee and sandwich to perk up the driver, that would be P, never me :) You may wonder why I'm showing a service centre sign here on the Kwinana Freeway heading south.. there is a replica centre on the opposite side of the freeway heading north.  As common as these facilities are overseas the BP Baldivis South and North centres are the first here in Perth. A stop to rest and refuel for the many trucks, tankers, tourists etc making the long haul down to the South West region of WA. 

  

No reason for the shot below except that I enjoyed catching two truckies parking their rig and heading into their very own 'trucker's lounge' :) Are these stop, rest and refuel centres quite commonplace on the long haul motorways in your part of the world? Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe..

All the fun of the fair..

There was a time many years ago that during the school holidays if you brought the kids into the city it was to the Art Gallery, the State Library or the Museum, which don't get me wrong, are all pretty cool things to do, I do them myself regularly :) Times have changed! Sometimes you just want to whizz around and scream out loud.. the children too :) The juxtaposition of stately heritage buildings and the gaudy colour and noise of the funfair rides in Forrest Place caught my eye! Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

Smooching under the staircase!

The sign below states no stacking of waste cardboard under the staircase.. it says nothing about no smooching! From afar it's not clear what the smudge of black on the wall under the stairs in Wolf Lane is, on closer inspection..naturally :) it is a small but perfectly formed moment of passion! I look for and love discovering these new mini stencil art pieces when out and about, I'm sure this wasn't there the last time I walked in Wolf Lane, but then again..! Hope you had/are having a good weekend, mine was hectic. Big catch up today! Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..
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That little blue box..

Walking along King Street in the city yesterday I was amused to see that Tiffany & Co had fashioned a Christmas wreath out of their trade mark petite blue box. Reflected in the window of Miu Miu. King St is best traversed at a brisk pace to avoid serious damage in the wallet area :) We had a few drops of summer rain yesterday.. in winter umbrellas go up at the the first drop, now, in summer with the heat and humidity people, myself included, tend not to bother, simply enjoying the cool feel of rain on skin! Happy Sunday, take care and stay safe.. P.s. the heritage architecture is what appeals to me :)

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White-faced Heron..

I've heard that to be a successful birder you must have patience, either that or find a pair of half-awake white-faced herons obligingly moving lazily in the morning sunshine. You can see by the plumage blowing gently in the early morning breeze and the slight pinkish -brown on the chest that it is the breeding season, perhaps they were conserving their energy :)

All was going well until a cormorant landed in their private space and they were off, first one followed closely by the other leaving the cormorant wondering 'was it something I said' :) Happy weekend, take care and stay safe..

Let sleeping birds lie..

Yesterday morning we were up and out by 5.30am taking bird pics at Lake Joondalup. Whenever I make the effort to get out and about early I enjoy it so much.. it's the coolest it's going to be all day and the light is tres jolie. The birds were in various stages of awake.. it was full house in the tree below, cormorants with their heads tucked under their wings while pelicans nearby were duck diving for breakfast..  

The peculiar looking male musk duck below was halfheartedly calling out in the hope of attracting a female, any female.. apparently they are a wee bit promiscuous :)  

Show you a few more tomorrow but as we were walking back to the car there was nothing half awake about the many rainbow lorikeets screeching as they flew in flocks from tree to tree, it's a lovely sight to see but hard to catch en masse, snapped this little jewel when it landed for all of a second :) Happy Friday, take care and stay safe...

Fly-by Photobombers..

Driving home along the coast road yesterday it was impossible to ignore the mammoth out to sea! For once I had my zoom lens AND tripod, which was just as well as the wind was blowing so fiercely it almost lifted me off my feet! Considering the 21,129 tonne, 107 x 101m oil rig the Ocean Monarch was roughly 6/9km out to sea, I was pretty ok with these shots. Anchored off-shore for maintenance work the Ocean Monarch featured in the action movie Armageddon.. hopefully it's stay in Perth waters will not be as dramatic :) Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

Highway to Hell..

The sculpture above titled 'Rock Base' was created by Perth Sculptor Jason Maxlow and is part of a series of artworks in the Canning Bridge Art Trail. You might have guessed by the title that the inspiration for the sculpture, in this location, makes a reference to 'a local story that this stretch of Canning Highway is said to be the Highway to Hell, go on have a listen :) that inspired the AC/DC song by Bon Scott, a frequenter of the nearby Raffles Hotel' below. Thankfully the hotel's Art Deco facade, added in 1937, was saved by the Art Deco Society when past owners were keen to demolish it.. unbelievable oui! Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe..

Pelican Presence..

While we were in Applecross last week I was delighted to spot a new mural by Dutch artist, living in Perth, Amok Island.. see more of his work here. If you have a minute, literally a minute :) you can see here the enormous scale of this piece filmed by drone from above by Peacock Visuals on completion. A couple of shots below from the pedestrian crossing over the Canning Highway to show perspective. I'm very much looking forward to heading out to Ravensthorpe to see this, again filmed by Peacock Visuals, you won't regret the time viewing and plus you get to see some gorgeous WA countryside, bonus! Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

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Easy breezy beach markets..

Summer beach markets are so lay-back, it's just too hot to get over excited about anything! You can tell by the general attire at yesterday's Markets by the Sea at Whitfords Nodes Park just a stone throw away from the beach, that the weather is warming up way too soon for my liking! I did make a start on my Christmas shopping.. also got pretty excited about my first naastie from Toast My Curry. Curry sandwiched in toasted naam bread, and if you pull the shot in and read the signage on the van you will see that not only did I have a delish brunch but it was all for a good cause too, I do love a win win situation! Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..

Seeing Double..

Taken from almost the same spot as last week's reflection, this time looking up towards St Georges Terrace and ye olde London Court. Again caught in the window of Mary Street Bakery. I read somewhere that the best street photography takes patience.. you find a spot, like this perhaps, and patiently wait until either a crowd or someone flamboyant comes along. The problem with that is the patience part of the theory.. in that I don't have any :) Hope you had/are still having a fab weekend, take care and stay safe...

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